Clock



Jan. 10, 1939, A. N. WOODRUFF CLOCK Filed Feb. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet lJan. 10, 1939, A. N. WOODRUFF CLOCK Filed Feb. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2amen/tom SILVER .fllbo/rt .77. Wa'adndf BRASS Patented Jan. 10, 1939UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE cnocx Albert N. Woodrnfl', WI-l ndlm. n. 0.Application February 1:, 19:1, Serial No. 125,662

6 Claims. (c1. ss-a) The invention relates to improvements in clocks,and its objects are as follow:

First, to provide; the combination of a clock mechanism of any knowntype and an inherently 5 separate unit which is applied to said clockmechanism as an attachment, the function of the latter being to convertsaid mechanism into a clock that is operable for determining the time atany desired locality on the globe.

10- Second, to so locate the thumb-wheels for setting the graduated ringand winding the spring when the clock is of the spring motor type, as tomake them easily accessible yet proof against being knocked off readily,said thumb-wheels 15 being made fairly thin but with beveled or roundededges so as to extend the knurling to which the surfaces are treated.

Third, to distinguish the top surface of the graduated ring with brassand silver or other whether the duplicate graduations in the ring halfbelts are for east or west readings.

Fourth, to provide an attachment having the foregoing characteristics,which is applicable to 25 any known type of clock or watch mechanismmerely by mountingit upon the upper plate of the latter.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the foliowingspecification,reference being had 30 to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view principally of the attachment, but alsoillustrating how it appears in relationship to a known clock mechanism.

35 Figure 2 is a detail plan view of a portion of the clock face. I

Figure 3 is a cross section of the attachment taken substantially on theline of Figure 1,

Figure 4 is a cross section of the known clock 4 mechanism, which figurecan also be considered as a supplement to Figure 3, the two views beingshown in the relationship in which they will be connected,

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic perspective view, 45 mainly illustrating theparts of the clock attachment, these parts being drawn out of truerelationship so that the working can be better understood, and Figure 6is a detail plan view of the retaining 50 means for the double-facedgear.

The invention is an improvement onthe patcut to Albert N. Woodruflf, No.1,990,012 of Feb. 5, 1935. The underlying principle of said patent ispreserved in the instant invention, but it has 56 been discovered thatthere is a need for condensing the elements of the patented clock tosuch an extent as to make of it an inherently separate unit which iscapable of being attached to any known type of clock mechanism by merelysecuring the attachment to the top plate of said mech- 5anismafterseeingtoitthatthereisaproper' meshing of gears so that thedrive of the clock mechanism is carried on through into the attachment.

The instant invention also embodies certain 10 improvements on thepatent, all of which are set out below, but before the latter is done itis firstdesired to describe parts of a known clock mechanism, some ofwhich is disclosed in the patent. The clock mechanism is generallydesignated I (see Fig. 4). This may comprise any known type whethermechanically or electrically driven. The instant showing is that of amechanical drive in that a spring barrel 2 is involved. The spring motorwhich this barrel represents is wound through a gear train 3 whichterminates at a pinion I.

It is thought immaterial to set out specifically how the driving powerof the spring motor is transferred to the clock mechanism, it beingsuiiicient to point out that said mechanism drives a 12-tooth pinion I!which meshes with a secondhand gear that is fixed on the second-handshaft l2. 'Ihis shaft I2 is common to both the foundation clockmechanism and the attachment 24.

The gear II has an integral pinion 13 which meshes with and drives anintermediate gear II, This gear I I makes one revolution per minute, andinstead-of it being driven by the spring motor 2 it can be driven by anelectric motor, such as one commonly sees in electric clocks. The staflfit of the intermediate gear i4 is journaled upon and between the bottomand top plates l8 and ll of the clock mechanism, said plates being heldapart 40 by spacers I! in a more or less common manner. Reverting. tothe staff l5, this carries a pinion [9 that is in mesh with a drivergear 2|! 'which is frlctionally held upon a sleeve 2| between thefriction plates 22. The gear 20 is a slowly rotating gear, making onerevolution per hour. The sleeve 2| carries a 12-tooth driver pinion 23,and it is at this pinion that the known clock mechanism ends.

Fran here on the description of the attachment can be identified in partwith the structure of the patent, the improvements being brought out asthey occur. The attachment is generally designated ll (Figs. 1 and 3).Most of the gearing is mounted betweenabase plate 25 and a dial plate26. The first gear of the gear train of the attachment is designated 21,and this is a 48- tooth gear in mesh with thedriver 23. This first gearis appropriately journaled at 28 on the top plate 11 of the clockmechanism I (Fig. 4),

. comprising the two rings designated 3i and 32."

Thus far it will be understood that of all the gears which theattachment it comprises, the

gear 21 is the only one that is mounted on the manufacturer's clock,that is to say, on the clock mechanism as it is .bought on the market.

An improvement is to be noted in the 72-tooth gear 35, 32 over itsnearest equivalent in the patent. The two rings are separated by spacers33, although in practice the gear iii, 32 will be made out of a singlepiece of stock. In making the two gears separate it is readily possibleto make the nether one over-size in outside diamlatter is what is knownas the diflferential ring eter to provide a flange 351 (Fig. 3) to therim of which retainers 35 are applied as shown. These are attached tothe base plate 25, and the latter thus becomes the journal for thegearii, 32, although actual is confined to lugs 36 which-are directedinwardly of a large central opening 3'! in the base plate 25 (Fig. 6).

. A i2-tooth pinion 38 meshes with the upper component 32 of theso-called double-faced gear. A carrier 39 provides the mount for a shaft46 on which the pinion 3B revolves in common with an attached 48-toothgear 6!. This gear meshes with and drives a 12-tooth pinion 42 which ispart of a tube 83 which extends upward andfixedly carries theminute-hand M. The doublei'aced gear 3!, 32 rotates once in twenty-fourhours and drives the pinion 42, consequently the minute-hand M, throughtwenty-four rotations per day and night.

The carrier 39 is secured to a 175-tooth ring gear 45 by means of rivetsl8 and spacers ll (Fig. 3). The ring gear is utilized as'a hold-down forthe assemblage 39, 45 upon the base plate 25 buthaving a plurality ofretainers-48 supporting its internal circular margin. This 175-toothring gear 45 has a cooperative relationship .to a similar gear 48 which,however, has only 168 teeth. The

gear, and its'purpose is to increase the angular speed of a graduatedring 50 over the speed that'- said ring would have if said ring dependeddirectly upon the ring'gear l for its setting.

Both ring gears 45 and mesh with an 8-tooth pinion 5|. Thispinion iscarried. by a gear-'52.

which meshes with a setting pinion 53. The shaft 54 of the pinion 53 isjournaled in extensions 55 carries one of The thumb wheels are what canbe called bump or snag proof. There has been on the market a type ofclock, intended for aviator's use which has a setting wheel protrudingupwardly above the clock face. The accidental knocking oi! ot-so'me ofthese setting knobs has resulted in thecondemnationofallcbcksoithetypeinmind.

o'clock midnight (A. M.).

stant thumb-wheels in easily accessible positions, the structuralarrangement shown has been adopted to reduce to a minimum thepossibility of thumb-wheel 56, making reference to only one, is fairlythin. It will stand well below the glass when in place. The upper edgeis either rounded or beveled at 58. This materially expands or widensthe surface to which the knurling 59 is applied. Therefore the operatorcan very readily drag his finger over such surface as may be adjacent tothe thumb-wheel 56 and procure an entirely adequate bearing upon themargin of the thumb wheel, the knurled surface of which has beenbroadenedin the manner indicated, despite the fact that itis very thinas compared with known types of setting knobs.

The purpose of the pinion 53, an equivalent of which does not occur inthe patent, is to dispense with the rather large thumb-wheel of thepatent, and at the same time make a gain in the leverage by which thecompanion ring gears 45, 69 are actuated. While on the subject of thethumbwheeis, it will be noted that 5? has its shaft 66 journaled inextensions iii of the plates 25, 2B. This shaft reaches downand carriesthe pinion 4 which actuates the train 8 for winding the motor 2.

A tube 82 revolves upon the mer carries the hour-hand G3 and it has a40- tooth gear 5&1 which meshes with a IO-tooth pintheir being knockedofi. As seen in Fig. 3 the I tube at. The for.-

ring gear 69. A small portion of the upper surface of the ring isvisible in a window 10 in the dial plate 26, in respect to which it isturnably supported by headed retainers GSa'CEig. 2) detime after 12o'clock noon (P. M.) and after 12:00 Fig. 2 illustrates the change inthe indication of the ring 69 shortly.

after 12:00 o'clock noon. The shaft IE to which reference was made nearthe beginning, extends through the central tube 43 and carries thesecond-hand I8.

.Reverting to the ring 50, it is seen in Fig. 5 that its upper surfaceis graduated at M in de grees beginning at zero and numbered to 180,reading both ways, thus serving as an index as to how far to move thering. These graduations are visible through a second window 15 in thedial plate 25. The graduations indicate the degrees of longitude westand east of Greenwich, and in order that the observer may know whetherhe is looking at the graduations in the western or east ern zone, thetop halves of they ring surface are contrasted by brass and silverfinishes I6 and II. In practice other contrasting finishes may beadopted, butthe brass and silver combination is regarded as oiespecialadvantage because of the ease with which one can, be distinguished fromthe other.

Little has m te added to the description of the dial plate 28. TheAmerican public, including aviators, navigators, and the like, are12-hour dial conscious, hence thenecessity of using the 12-hour dial 18shown. The markings on this dial are supplemented by designations l9 andII, respectively, comprising the letters E and W with and inasmuch as itis desirable to have the ineaclrof which points to the window 15. 75

7' According to this plan any given hour is adopted The designations-arelocated on opposite sides of the window, and they are intended to guidethe user in moving the graduated ring whm he manipulates the thumb wheel56.

The operation is readily understood. First, by

way of a brief review, it is desired to remind the reader, as set out inthe patent, that the fundamental invention is to provide a clock whichfor knowing the exact time, whether of day or night, of the locality inwhich they are situated or toward which they are traveling. It iscommonly known that as far as the United States is concerned the countryis separated into divisions having Eastern standard time, Centralstandard time, Mountain standard time and Pacific standbelts, thecurrent practice is to set the t mepiece either backward or forward,depending on.

whether thedirection of travel is west or east.

as the hour in the entire zone between any two hour meridians. Forinstance, if the time is 2:00 P. M. in Washington, D. C. it is also 2:00P. M. anywhere in the zone between the 75 and 90 meridians. While thisis satisfactory for general working purposes yet it does not acquaint aper son with the exact time at points intermedially of the meridians,whlch time, obviously, will vary for every fraction of distance one wayor the other.

To begin with the clock mechanism I (Fig. 4)

is supposed to be functioning correctly so that 'the hands. 44, 53 aretellin the correct time.

' These hands are capable of being set independently of the clockmechanism, and it is to enable this independent setting that the drivergear a is supplemented with the friction plates 22. In practice ahand-setting wheel (not shown) can be geared to the first gear 21 of theattachment for accomplishing the purpose in mind, thus constituting thefirst mode of setting the hands.

The second mode of operating the hands is through the normal functioningof the spring or other motor 2 'and the gear train driven thereby.

Colmterclockwise turning of the gear 21 and pinion (Fig. 4) causescounterclockwise turning of the double ear ll, 32 because of the meshingof the pinion ll with the ring gear ii. The unit 38, 4| (Fig. 3) isstationary relatively to the ring gear 4' because said unit is attachedto the car rier 39 which is virtually an integral part of said .ringgear. This ring gear as well as the diiferential gear 49 and itsgraduated ring 5| remains stationary during the normal operation clock.Y

Since the double gear 3i, 3! is being turned counterclockwise because ofthe counterclockwise turning of the pinion 3', the unit 38, II is alsoturned counterclockwise by virtue of its pinion of the v .make thegraduated ring 50 traverse the window hand $3 of the dial circumferenceper hour. At the same time the day-night ring gear 69 rotates at therate of of the dial circumference per'hour, the result being that thewhite zone stays in view of the window for the twelve A. M. hours andthe black zone stays in view for the twelve P. M. hours.

The third mode of operation of the clock occurs when it is desired todetermine the exact time at any designated remote locality. The instantcalculation is made from Washington, D. C. which is located near the '77meridian west longitude (west of Greenwich). This or any other meridianreading is ascertained from any map having thereon notations of thedegrees E and W of Greenwich. The hands 44, 63 must first indicate theexact local time, and it is herein supposed that the time forWashington, D. C. is 8:00 A. M. Now manipulate the thumb-wheel 56 toturn the ring 50 beneath the window 15. Suppose that it .is desired toknow the corresponding time in Honolulu, Hawaii. Honolulu is situatedbetween the 150 and the 165 meridians. Since Honolulu is west ofWashington, D. C. the thumbwheel 56 must be turned counterclockwise,this agreeing with the direction of the arrow adjacent the designation Wwhich indicates west. The graduated ring 50 will correspondingly turncounterclockwise, and when the brass finish 16 (Fig. 5) shows at thewindow the user will be put on guard to watch for the 150 graduation.When this graduation lines up with the .vertical center through thewindow the clock hands will indicates 3:00 A. M., and that is caused inthis way:

As the thumb-wheel 56 is turned counterclockwise the pinion 5| (Fig. 3)causes simultaneous counterclockwise turning of the ring 50,diflerential gear 49 andg'ear 45. Since the unit 38, 4| is carried bythe latter, and the double gear 3!, 32 is incapable of turning becauseof the resistance of the gear train behind it, it follows that said unit38, 4| will partake of a planetary motion around the double gear,turning clockwise all the-while by virtue of its p nion 38 meshing withthe gear 32.

Clockwise turning of the gear 4 I causes counterclockwise turning of thepinion 42 .and of its carried minute-hand 44, also counterclockwiseturning of the gear 64 and of its carried hourhand 63. The clock handsare thus set back, the

more, designating 2:32 A. M. which is the exact time reading at Honoluluwhen it is 8:00 A. M. at Washington, D. C.-

The necessity for the difierential gear 49 is to IS a little faster thanit would if it were carried directly by the ring gear 45. Since the gear49 has fewer teeth than the gear'45 it will turn faster by 15 in onerevolution than the gear 45, thereby insuring 360" of angular movementof the ring 50 with the clock hands at the end of a 24-hour cycle. Ifthe clock hands were manually turned through this cycle it would sohappen that operation'would have to continue untilthe passage of 25hours before the graduated ring 50 would traverse the 360 zone.

I claim:

l. A clock comprising hourand minute-hands, clock mechanism for turningthe hands, a numbered dial traverseable by the hands, said dial having awindow, a ring gear in mesh with and driven by said clock mechanism, thetop surface -of said ring gear being divided into half zones designatingday and night, and means depending from the nether side of the dialsupporting said ring gear in turning relationship to the window so thatzones become alternately visible.

2. A clock comprising hourand minute-hands, clock mechanism for turningthe hands, a dial plate traversable by the hands and having two windows,a ring gear in mesh with and driven by the clock mechanism, the uppersurface of said ring gear being arranged to indicate day or night inaccordance with the time designated by the hands, means depending fromthe dial plate supporting said ring gear in turning relation to one ofthe windows, graduated means which is normally independent of the clockmechanism and has graduationsrepresenting divisions of longitude on theglobe, means for turnably supporting said graduated means from the dialplate so that the graduations appear at the second window, and manuallyoperable means for moving the graduated means and simultaneously movingthe hands and said day-night ring gear so that they traverse the dialplate irrespective of said clock mechanism. 7

3. A clock which includes a dial plate, hourand minute-hands, and aclock mechanism by which they are made to traverse said plate, means toadjust the hands independently of the clock mechanism including a shaft,iourn'aled in the plate, and a thumb-wheel fixed on the shaft close toand above the dial plate, said thumb-wheel being thin as compared to itsdiameter so as to project only a short distance above the dial plate.

ried by the base plate with which said flange engages to turnably retainthe double gear, and a pinion in driving engagement with the upper ringof said gear.

5. A clock comprising a dial plate which has a window, the clock face ofsaid plate having indicia adjacent to the window denoting east and westlongitude, clock mechanism terminating in hour and minute-hands whichare in position to traverse the clock face, and means by which to setthe hands in respect to the clock face and independently of the clockmechanism to determine the time at a locality remote from the one atwhich the clock is situated, said means including a ring which ismovable beneath the window and and has markings graduated from zero to180 running in opposite directions, the sectors of the ring with therespective markings having contrasting finishes to agree with therespective in-.

dicia on the clock face so that the user can tell whether theadjustments are made in east or west longitude. I

6. A clock comprising a standard clock mechanism including a top plate,driven gearing also included in said mechanism ending in a terminaldriver pinion on top 'of said plate, an attachment said gear trainincluding a pinion integral with" ing said hands independently of theclock mechanism, said. instrumentalities including graduated means whichhas graduations representing divisions of longitude on the globe, a dialplate which is traversable by the hands, and means for moving thegraduated means so that its graduations can be inspected with respect toa fixed point in order to tell when to stop the manual operation of thehands. V

ALBERT N. WOODRUFF.

